Kadamba

[Guest guest]

Kadamba

 

Latin : Anthocephalus Cadamba

Family : Rubiaceae

Sanskrit Name : Kadamba

Hindi Name : Kadam

 

The honey-colored flowers of the Kamdamba tree only open after dark

to produce the wine-rich scent that is extracted into a perfumed oil

much loved in India. The flower itself, a sphere made of pale golden

florettes, is used a mystic symbol by worshippers of the Goddess, and

the name of the tree is synonymous with wine, after a legend that

says an evil demon became so intoxicated by the fragrant wine

dripping from the kadamba's flowers that he was unable to wreak

destruction. Although the kadamba flowers produce no wine, a mild

spirit can be distilled from the petals.

 

The most widespread legends concerning the Kadamba tree spring from

the kadamba's association with the cowherd god, Krishna. He is

said

to have stood in its shade when playing flute, and to have climbed

its branches when he stole the clothes of the group of bathing

maidens.

 

The fruits of the Kadamba tree is about the size of an orange with

fleshly orange pulp. The squeezed fruits juice is mixed with

cuminseed and sugar and given to children for gastric irritability,

and the whole fruit is useful when children are running high

temperatures because it cools and quenched thirst.

 

The frest juice of the Kadamba bark is applied to the heads of the

newborn infants when the fontanel sinks, and the juice of the Kadamba

fruit is used by the entire family as a health tonic and to allay

stomach disorders.

[Guest guest]

Kadamba can produce a wine, specifically the sri kula where it is a major

component. The wine comes from the fermented nector of the Kadamba when

mixed with the ferment of I think barley. I don't know much about this but

the kadamba that grows in Fiji that think stinks like hell.